The Road to Autonomy®

Autonomy Markets: We Rode With Uber's AV Partners in Dallas, Took Several Waymo Rides and Uncovered Two Waymo Depots This week on Autonomy Markets, @gbrulte and @WaltLightShed headed to Dallas to attend Forward Fort Worth. While in town, they rode in several @Waymo vehicles and in @Uber's autonomous vehicle partners @AvrideAI and @May_Mobility, and discovered two Waymo depots in Dallas. Episode Chapters 00:00 Forward Fort Worth 02:47 Waymo in Dallas: Ride Experience and Depot Discoveries 12:25 May Mobility in Arlington: Ride Experience & Uber Launch Timeline 16:45 Avride in Dallas: Ride Experience 21:49 Uber's Multi-Partner Strategy 30:27 @Nissan's Autonomous Vehicle Strategy 33:18 @Zoox's Pending Miami & Atlanta Launches 36:11 LiDAR vs. Vision Debate 41:50 @Tesla Robotaxis in Dallas 43:28 Foreign Autonomy Desk 48:36 Next Week $UBER, $GOOGL, $TSLA, $NBIS

Highly recommend this podcast on autonomy, FSD, etc They actually do fair and rigorous journalism — unlike @nytimes and @wired Just two analysts going direct

This Week in the Autonomy Economy presented by @Koop_AI, @Uber kept the printing press hot while continuing to raise more questions about their autonomous vehicle strategy, China’s robotaxi industry continued to grow, and we launched a new podcast called Autonomy Signals. These stories and more in This Week in The Autonomy Economy. Read and subscribe today: roadtoautonomy.com/verne-ponyai-u… $UBER, $PONY

Autonomy Markets: Uber, Verne and @PonyAI_Tech are partnering to launch a robotaxi service in Europe, beginning in Zagreb, Croatia. Great news for @Uber's international autonomous vehicle expansion. But when you look closer, there are some interesting details worth understanding. Verne is owned by the Rimac Group (makers of Bugatti) and has world-class manufacturing in Croatia, yet the vehicle being deployed is an ARCFOX Alpha T5 built by Beijing Automotive Group, not the Verne 2-seater robotaxi. Pony AI is the autonomous driving partner, not Verne's original partner Mobileye, who isn't mentioned in the announcement. Furthermore, Verne's own website makes no mention of the partnership. 🤔

.@Tesla_Optimus faces rising production costs and potential delays as China tightens control over the rare earth magnets critical to its supply chain. $TSLA

Autonomy Signals: Tesla Optimus Delayed as China Holds the Magnets This week on Autonomy Signals, @gbrulte and @RobGsix discuss @Tesla_Optimus delays driven by China's rare earth export controls, the EU's push to slow AI regulation and what it means for autonomous vehicles, and @Waymo's potential expansion into Canada. Episode Chapters 00:00 @AUTNMYAI 00:24 Signal 1: Potenial Tesla Optimus Gen 3 Delay 23:35 Signal 2: Europe Delays Classifying L4 Autonomous Vehicles as High Risk 48:45 Signal 3: Waymo Eyes Canadian Expansion 51:29 Closing $TSLA, $GOOGL

.@Uber Aims to further fragment the robotaxi market with @Rivian deal. #uber-aims-to-further-fragment-the-robotaxi-market-with-rivian-deal" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">roadtoautonomy.com/uber-fragment-… $UBER, $RIVN

First Virtual AI, Now Physical AI, Tete Xiao co-authored the Segment Anything paper and now he is building autonomous trucks at @BotAutoAV.

From Segment Anything (Virtual AI) to Autonomous Trucks (Physical AI) Tete Xiao, VP of Engineering and AI, @BotAutoAV joined @gbrulte on The Road to Autonomy to discuss the fundamental shift from virtual AI to the physical AI required for commercial autonomous trucking. Episode Chapters 00:00 @AUTNMYAI 00:25 Segment Anything 05:04 Virtual AI to Physical AI 09:08 Redundancy and Aviation-Inspired Architecture 13:40 Hardware and Software 17:00 Launching Fully Autonomous Operations 20:00 Foundation Models and Reinforcement Learning 27:52 Compute Infrastructure 35:22 Staying Ahead 42:30 Building a Virtual Driver 47:06 AGI 48:36 Transportation Company 53:59 Future of Bot Auto

$1.25 billion and 50,000 fully autonomous robotaxis is the headline. The reality is $300 million upfront, followed by four milestone payments tied to undisclosed autonomous performance targets. The R2 (Robotaxi) is still a prototype.

Autonomy Markets: @NVIDIA and @Uber announced a robotaxi launch in San Francisco and Los Angeles by the first half of 2027, but beyond the headline what does launch truly mean? $NVDA $UBER

This Week in the Autonomy Economy presented by @Koop_AI, @Uber continued to implement its fragment the robotaxi market strategy, @Waymo announced it has completed over 170 million fully autonomous miles, and the autonomy market press releases continue to omit the important details. These stories and more in This Week in The Autonomy Economy. Read and subscribe today: roadtoautonomy.com/uber-fragment-… $UBER, $RIVN, $GOOGL

Autonomy Markets: Is NVIDIA Full Stack or Full Hype in Uber’s Robotaxi Narrative? This week on Autonomy Markets, @gbrulte and @WaltLightShed discuss @NVIDIA's autonomous driving ambitions, @Uber’s @Rivian robotaxi deal, and what all of these deals will eventually mean for the robotaxi market. Episode Chapters 00:00 NVIDIA GTC 04:06 Jensen Huang; NVIDIA is Not a Solutions Provider 11:23 Uber/NVIDIA Partnership 25:52 Uber/Rivian Robotaxi Deal 32:02 @Waymo: 170m+ Autonomous Miles and Counting 33:01 Foreign Autonomy Desk 34:44 Next Week $NVDA, $UBER, $RIVN

Teradar built a terahertz sensor that sees through rain, snow, and fog at lidar resolution. Learn how.

The Olympic Village of Ag Tech Today in Salinas, CA, RESERVOIR is home to the densest collection of ag tech companies ever assembled in one place.

Less than 2% of specialty crop agriculture is automated. The other 98% is the opportunity.

@ColtonInvests @Waymo @WaltLightShed

@RoadToAutonomy @Waymo Sure, then it’s not a Robotaxi for a few months more, don’t see the drama. This partnership looks pretty big

You forgot a very important detail, with safety drivers. A vehicle with safety drivers is not a robotaxi.

@ColtonInvests Nope. Safety drivers = no robotaxi. All @Waymo vehicles in commercial operations today do not have safety drivers. Waymo operates robotaxis, not science projects.

@RoadToAutonomy Most providers launch with a safety driver at first. Waymo has months of testing with safety drivers before commercializing. I think it’s pretty smart for Uber to make revenue during that process. If the turnaround is a while (like Tesla taking 9+ months), then I agree.

Accelerating Physical AI Adoption in Agriculture Danny Bernstein, Founder & CEO of RESERVOIR joined @gbrulte on The Road to Autonomy to discuss Physical AI and the growing role it is playing in agriculture. Today, less than 2% of specialty crop agriculture is automated. To change that, RESERVOIR acquired the farm infrastructure and launched a venture fund dedicated to Ag tech and Physical AI. Episode Chapters 00:00 Less than 2% of Specialty Crop Agriculture is Automated 07:32 Physical AI on Farms 13:35 The Six to Nine Month Farm Access Problem 18:49 Inside Reservoir Farms 26:01 The Olympic Village of Ag Tech 32:29 Building Trust with Farmers 43:19 The Growth of Automation and Autonomy on Farms 47:50 The Future of Automation and Autonomy on Farms